Catching Up

Do you hold onto books? Or do you read them and pass them on? Or do you have special books that you keep... like maybe hardbacks and get rid of paperbacks?

I've been going through all my books lately to try and clear out some space. Having to make my office quasi-attractive is quite a chore. It's one thing if your office is only seen by you and your family but if you have people coming through to relax, I think stacks of paper and books are distracting. So I've been clearing out. I don't mind telling you this is making me nuts. And unfortunately the rest of the household is sort of tiptoeing around me....

When I was younger, I thought books were the most important thing in the world. I read like a crazy person, everything I could get my hands on. There used to be a Schoolhouse Rock? or Afterschool Special? or cartoon about a Reading guy.... man, I hate it when that happens, it's right on the tip of my brain.... nuttin'.... anyway, a guy who was obsessed with reading and couldn't stop. That was me. I would stay up all night, long after I was married, up until I had children, I just couldn't put a book down once I started it.

I thought that the most beautiful place in the whole world would have to be my own private library. The idea of Jane Eyre in the window nook in her Aunt's library was just delicious.... I wanted the nook, the library, not the Aunt of course! So, I saved every book I ever bought. And considering that I started working when I was 13 and spent every penny I could on books.... well, I have a lot of books. And then having children, I thought that would be the greatest gift I could give them... a love of reading... life saving. So of course, they have a lot of books. Everyplace in the house you can think of.. under all of our beds, the attics, the porch, in every room, even the kitchen... yikes.

No one ever mentions how much dust books collect. Especially when you are drywalling.

And am I really ever going to read Flowers in the Attic again? What a stupid series. But I insist that I wouldn't know anything about history if not for my historical romances.... oh, the hero almost beds down (that's what they call it, beds down) with the heroine who then hates him but the father finds them together and insists that they marry and they have some quasi-silly reason that they refuse to bed down again until their fingers brush against one another and they realize they were in love all that time... like 600 pages... but then she gets thrown in the French Bastille until Bastille Day which is when they released all the prisoners and were stunned to find out there were only 11 when they thought there were hundreds but they beheaded the guards anyway....

Good times.

So yeah. What am I supposed to do with all these books? I'm coming to the conclusion that if I ever really could afford a house with a library and a nook I could probably afford new dustless books and a maid to dust them in the future.

Whaddya think? But could I really part with my dog eared torn up copy of Gone with the Wind?

Oh and here's the funny part. After years of Barry bugging me to death about getting rid of my books, I had a box filled to get rid of that we had Rhia go through because we have a bad habit of hiding money in books.... He goes to carry the box out and reaches down and sees a ripped up, baby milk spit up and crayon colored paperback version of Dr. Spock. Our new parents bible.

"You're not getting rid of this! Are You? How could you?" with a positively wounded look on his face....

Unnh unnnh unnnnhhhhhhhh......